Of Wishes and Haikus
by ariadne-chan
Summary: Hino Kahoko has a wish...and so does Tsukimori Len.


**Overview of the Tanabata Festival:**

The legend celebrates the meeting of Orihime and Hikoboshi. The Celestial River, (often referred to as the Milky Way) a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. The celebration is held at night, once the stars come out.

This legend was probably introduced in Japan during the Nara era (710-794) and was incorporated in the indigenous legend telling the life of the princess Oto Tanabata, considered for the brocades she wove in gods' honour. However Tanabata became a popular festival only in the Heian era (794-1185).

In present-day Japan, people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on _tanzaku_ or small, multi-colored small pieces of paper, and hanging them on bamboo, sometimes with other decorations.

On these paper strips each participant writes a poem expressing his wish to see his aspirations in love coming true or a pledge of fidelity in love or the wish to become a better pupil in class. At the end of the festival, the bamboo branches are thrown in a river; a ritual act which must move away the bad luck.

**Note: **The syllable 'Hi' from Hino's last name may mean 'light,' and 'Tsuki' from Tsukimori's last name means 'moon,' if you base it on the Kanji. Keep this in mind as you read on, especially when you get to the part of Tsukimori's small haiku. ^-^

---

_Pitpat, patter pat pat…_

Hino Kahoko sighed as she stretched into hazy consciousness. She struggled upright in bed and rubbed a hand across eyes still dazed from slumber. Her eyes focused on the Kuromatsu tree outside her window, blurry as it was with the mist. _'__It's only a light drizzle,'_ she thought sleepily. _'Nothing much to worry about._' Although the sky was engulfed in a disheartening grey and light pattering sounds of the rains can be heard, she knew and hoped that the rest of the day would be sunny and bright. She stood up with a sigh and, as was her customary routine before starting the day, took a glance at the calendar.

"Ehhhh?! July 7!!?! Tanabata?!"

Kahoko grabbed a seat in front of her small dresser mirror and slumped down as she lost herself on her thoughts. She opened the History book lying innocently on top of her pile of books, and flipped the pages to the legend of Tanabata Day. It was about the weaving deity, Orihime, (Vega) whose duty was to weave garments for her father, the God of Firmament.

_One day while at her loom she spied a handsome lad named Hikoboshi (Altair) leading an ox, and she at once fell in love with the lad. Her father, knowing his daughter's thoughts immediately consented to her marriage._

_They loved well but not wisely—Orihime neglected her weaving duties to her father, and Hikoboshi let his oxen wander unattended across the High Plain of Heaven, and it greatly angered the God of Firmament. He commanded that the lovers be separated from one another by the Celestial River._

_The separated lovers' grief was so great that soon the God of Firmament consented to allow the lovers to meet one night a year to sooth their loneliness. Since then, each year, at the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the celestial magpies form a temporary footbridge above the Celestial River, on which the stellar lovers Hikoboshi and Orihime renew their pledge of love._

_It is said that at the dawn of this day, it often drizzles; for these are the tears of the Vega princess who, tenderly holding her husband's hand, cries sadly._

Kahoko smiled upon recalling the old legend, and she sighed again as she remembered the celebration to be held that day.

_'Hmm, I gotta get up early. Hiratsuki's also a train trip away,'_ she thought gingerly. It was quite strange, though, that it was drizzling that early morning, as if coinciding with the legend. Remembering all the Tanabata Days she had celebrated, never once did it rain at dawn.

_'Could this be something special?'_ Kahoko wondered, and the thought made her smile faintly. She stooped down, opened her desk drawer and took the strip of paper on which she wrote a haiku that contained her wish for this year's festival.

_"My heart makes this wish_

_For him to notice me now_

_This beautiful day."_

She took another sigh as she made to rise to take a shower. She hoped that the Tanabata day would prove eventful and special to her this time around.

---

It was already noon. The sun was high up in the sky, and Hiratsuki was bustling with people from all over Kanagawa. There was laughter everywhere, and the spirit of this year's Tanabata Festival was an encouragingly happy one. The people stood around bamboo trees, hand in hand.

_'We stand here making our wishes, hoping our wishes will come true.'_

A lone figure, far from all these people, stood alone in front of a young bamboo tree hidden beneath the larger ones. He hoped that no one would see him in that place that day as he made this little wish of his. He took a strip of blue paper and a string out of his pocket, and read over his note one last time before tying it to the higher branches of the tree. The wind blew, sending his cerulean hair across his face. He brushed it aside as he tossed a coin at the tree, clapped his hands thrice then silently recited a small mantra.

The wind blew again. It felt good, and was actually a positive sign. According to tradition, it was good to let the wishes be blown by the wind so they would be granted. It would be even better if someone read it, because they said that the person who'd read it with wish it himself for the person who wrote it, thus, increasing the possibility that it would come true.

But he didn't want anyone to read it, and so he sighed. The wind was fine. He knew it would never come true, anyway. In fact, he never believed the legend, but there was never harm in trying...

He should have known better than to waste his time at the festival, but then he was already there, and decided that after he finished the small prayer, he would go back home and spend the rest of the day practicing his violin.

His golden eyes swept over the numerous paper wishes, most of which requesting money or good health. He felt shallow for asking for something as shallow as _his_ wish, but he didn't really care. Perhaps if he were a little more selfish, he wouldn't be alone right now. He took another sigh as he gave his note one last glance, until he eventually decided it was time to leave.

---

_'Tsukimori-kun?!'_ thought Kahoko in surprise—she never expected to see the cold and icy Tsukimori Len standing in front of a bamboo tree and praying for whatever his wish was to come true. It seemed that he was about to finish his prayer, and so she decided to wait behind the larger grasses and continued to watch him without revealing her presence.

There were so many people in the outer area of the woods that there was no space for her on the trees to say her prayers. There were less people in the deeper parts, so she decided to go there instead to look for a tree. She had almost feared that she'd gotten lost, and then she saw a lone figure standing in front of a young bamboo tree. She couldn't mistake the tall, lean, and pale figure topped with beautiful cerulean hair for someone else.

_'Wonder what he's wishing for...'_ she thought with a small frown. She squeezed the strip of paper she held in her hand and couldn't help but blush a bit. Maybe he'd greet her, or give her a nod as an acknowledgment. Or maybe even look at her.

Maybe her wish would be granted after all.

Just maybe…

The wind blew, and she closed her eyes. She had wished Tsukimori-kun good luck at the sports festival, hadn't she? And she wished for him to notice her. Her cheeks flushed at the thought, and tried very hard to concentrate on her strip of paper.

_"Sasa no ha sara-sara_  
_Nokiba ni yureru_  
_Ohoshi-sama kira-kira_  
_Kin gin sunago_…"

"I didn't think anyone sung that over the age of six," snapped a cold voice from behind her, and Kahoko almost jumped a mile in fright.

"T-Tsu-Tsukimori-kun?!" she stammered with embarrassment. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"No need to defend yourself," the violinist replied monotonously. "You still remember the words."

"My mother used to sing it to me as a lullaby," Kahoko explained, her cheeks still faintly pink. "That's why I like Tanabata so much."

He nodded politely and he brushed the hair away from his face as the wind blew. He didn't look like he had any intention to speak, and Kahoko felt awkward enough as it was that she decided to speak up in an effort to break the tension between them.

"I wouldn't be able to stand being with my lover only once a year," she said tentatively. "If I were Ori Hime, I certainly would do everything in my power so Hikoboshi and I would be together…"

"…"

She sighed softly, for she felt awkward at such close proximity with the violinist, and then he surprised her with his words.

"It's not that simple, Hino…" he mumbled. "Our wishes don't always come true."

"Ehhh?! Tsukimori-kun…"

It was then that he walked past her, without another word or glance, as if there was nobody there except for him. His golden eyes looked straight ahead, and nowhere else, like he was anxious to leave the woods immediately. After a few minutes, he eventually reached the end of the bamboo wall.

Kahoko's hopes fell as he disappeared among the trees. His cold, impersonal attitude wasn't new to her, but she realized with a sinking feeling that it wouldn't be a special Tanabata Day that year. The drizzle that morning was just coincidence.

She smiled faintly as she grasped the strip of paper in her hand. What was the use of wishing when there is no hope? Her hands shook with her determination not to cry—she wanted to throw the paper away and possibly forget about everything…

Or could she?

Tanabata was a day for wishing and hoping. She couldn't lose hope now...

Kahoko took small, slow steps towards the small tree and saw the lone strip of blue paper hanging on its thin branches: Tsukimori-kun's wish. Suddenly, she felt a strong urge to read it.

_'There's nothing wrong if I read it. In fact, it's bound to bring better luck.'_

_'Should I?'_

_'Well, it is possible that he went this deep into the woods to keep anyone from reading it... But wouldn't that be useless on Tanabata?'_

Reading it would make the wish come true. Somehow, whatever the violinist's wish was, she wanted it to come true. Maybe that would make him happy and maybe she'd be glad as well.

She raised her arm and reached to gently pull the strip of paper from the branches, and then she paused mid-pull.

_'Maybe I should just leave it…'_

The wind blew.

_'Should I?'_

_'I don't think there's anything wrong with that...'_

She pulled the string and the strip of paper gently landed on her hands. She opened it, and then looked away.

_'He might get mad if I read this...'_

_'And whoever said he'd find out that you read it?'_

She finally decided to stop hesitating and focused her gaze to the paper. She slowly read the words written in black ink. The handwriting wasn't so good, but the message was conveyed clearly.

"On this day of stars

I wish to tell her this

The words I cannot speak

To the light of moon."

Her hands shook as realization of what the words meant hit her, and she closed her eyes as she leaned against the young bamboo tree. The wind blew once more, and she shivered against the cold.

"You just did, Tsukimori-kun." She put it back on the tree, and then hung her own strip of paper right beside the violinist's.

_'Our wishes don't always come true.'_

"That's because we have to make them true."

The wind blew once more, but the sky was clear and the sun shone brightly. There was a light drizzle that morning, but it was indeed a special Tanabata Day. A day, Kahoko was sure, that she'd surely cherish for the rest of her life.

---

gyahaha! sorry for the haiku. had one hell of a headache as i tried to rephrase the traditional 5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables blah. i broke the rules, mwa ha. T_T it's for TuNGaW-GirL and Pathetic Rainbow (yeah, i gave jade a real headache as i blabbered on the epic failure that was my haiku o_O) ^-^ have a nice day, everyone! ^-^

edit: yeah, i wanted the story to not center around music for once, it's kind of tiring after some time. o_O so, yeah, anyway, i hope you liked it. ^-^


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